All the Presidents Men and Women

Today, we finalize the layouts for the President's Dinner at the 2021 NPTC convention. One photo we try to get each year is a group of all the presidents who have served in the organization over the years. This photo is missing John, as he doesn't seem to attend the convention much anymore, but the other five of us were happy to be together again. This is the order in which we served: Mike at the far right, then Nancy, then Roland, then me, and currently, Yvonne. (John would be between Nancy and Roland).

This layout is based on an Original CM sketch. I replaced the block of 3 photos in the center with the 5x7 photo of our group. The papers are from the same collection as my dinner companions' layout in the last blog (Our Moments). I do love that tiled paper! The border is a laser-cut border from the collection. The base is bronze shimmer cardstock, providing a rich tone to the layout. The top word (Friendship) is a laser-cut title. The bottom phrase (Capture the Moment) is a sticker from the original CM collections. This page finishes volume 1 of my convention trip. There were so many photos over the 6 days of my journey that I had to put the rest of the material in another album. The end of the dinner served as a suitable stopping point for this album.

Dinner Companions

Welcome back to the President's Dinner at the 2021 NPTC Convention. I don't have many photos from the event. We began with a cocktail reception and then proceeded to dinner. You can see the menu below. I joined Carl and Marla Raboi, Carl's mom, and her significant other, along with Melania, Nicole, Brian Bailey, and a new member named Allan Randall. We had a great time talking over dinner and were able to get a couple of group shots in before the night came to an end.

For this layout, I chose one of Cheryl Even's Split Coast Stampers sketches. I rotated the sketch 90 degrees to the right to align with the direction of my photos. I used the Our Moments collection from Creative Memories because I felt the colors matched the tone of the restaurant — the rich browns and reds are reflected in the wood tones of the walls and columns. I really like the paper with the tiles on it, so I made that the base for the 2 group photos. I used one of the tonal papers for the background and added 2 thin strips of gray for the outline of the square. This way, I didn't have to cover up the gray paper unnecessarily — paper saver! I didn't need much journaling, so I chose one of the mats with a smaller circle in the middle. The gray of the card matches the gray strips, which helps tie the layout together.

The Train Gang

Welcome back to the 2021 NPTC Convention in Washington, DC. This post marks the beginning of a look at the President's Dinner — the traditional meal served after the convention meeting. The dinner was held at a restaurant across town from the hotel, but we were able to ride the Metro to a nearby station. Not everyone was as familiar with Metro, and I found myself leading a large group of club members. I had to turn around periodically to take photos of them behind me. 

This layout is based on one of Meggan and Tessa's Power Hours (May 2025). I pulled more of the red-white-and-blue papers from my stash, but I also borrowed embellishments from the Passport to Adventure pack. That pack had the nice Metro Train sticker and a 'Now Boarding' title. There was also a mat with the title that I liked for this particular layout. I chose to utilize the circular element as a journal box. I have some lined paper that can be cut with the Custom Cutting System. Cutting a slightly larger circle mat is a nice touch. There are three blades in that set — red, green, and blue. Each is about 1/4" difference in width from the pins to the blade, so you can easily create multiple layers. The left border is the same punch (Chevron) that I used on the cannon firing event at Fort Washington. Now it's backed with blue for a much different look!

Lasting Memories Guest Designer Week 4 (Mount Gulian Front to Back)

Hello everyone! I'm guest designing for Lasting Memories throughout September! This is my final entry, but you can review the previous entries from the past few weeks. Each one followed the weekly challenge posted at Lasting Memories, and I encourage you to join the challenge! Post your version using the link at the bottom of their post.

For this challenge, I moved to my December 2021 trip to the Hudson River Valley. There are numerous vintage houses in the area, and many of them are decorated for the Christmas season. One of the houses I visited is Mount Gulian. This home is over 300 years old. When we arrived, we were early for the tour, so I walked to the back of the house to explore the grounds. Or did I? Interestingly, this house was located on the river, and so the "back" of the house is truly the FRONT. People traveled mainly by river when the house was built, so they arrived on this side of the house. The side I entered, which is NOW the front, was originally the back door. Amazing how things change over time.

This week, our theme is to use plaid paper! When I think of plaid, I typically think of Christmas, so I went through my park-related photos and found this trip to the Hudson River Valley, where we toured old homes decorated for the holidays. I went through my Christmas stash and located some plaid papers. I followed this idea from the CM blog to create the borders at the top of the pages. I picked a few plaid mats to highlight the house and break up the green at the bottom. The large poinsettia was also one of the photo mats, but I fussy cut the image from the middle.

And the Winner Is...

Today, the blog continues its look at the 2021 NPTC convention. You'll remember that I posted my Saturday morning adventure as one of the Lasting Memories challenge posts back on September 7th. I stopped in Chinatown for a quick bite and then attended the convention meeting. Our meetings always feature a welcome from the superintendent and a speaker about one of the park units. Recognize the ranger on the right-hand page? He was one of the featured speakers at the Frederick Douglass bus trip event. And not only did he speak today, but we awarded him with the NPTC Flat Hat Award. This is the first time we have been able to present the Award at the convention. Usually, we hold a ceremony later in the year at the ranger's host park.

The Award is given each year by asking our members to nominate a ranger who has made an extra effort to ensure the satisfaction of our guests, or who has provided an outstanding presentation. The club has a committee to review the nominations, and then one (or one group) is chosen and announced at the convention. You can see the list of prior winners here. You may be lucky enough to see them in your own NPS travels!

The other awards being given out are to the members who completed their platinum status within the past year. You can see Jennifer Baxter, Cheryl, and Mike Carver (remember their last park, Eisenhower, which was featured at the start of this convention tale). There is also a large photo of all the current platinum members present at the meeting.

This layout is loosely based on Cheryl Even's Sketch #51. This is an excellent sketch if you have a lot of horizontal photos. So long as you get everything to 4" tall, you can arrange the pictures in 2 rows along the page, leaving some gaps for the background paper to show through. The argyle paper is a very old CM paper from my stash. I trimmed it to 8x12 to layer the photos. That left 2" above and 2" below for borders and journaling. The 2 borders below the pictures are laser-cut borders from the US of Yay pack. The "border" across the top was just from punching multiple ribbons with one of the CM punches. I had some small red letter and number stickers to spell out the title across the center of the ribbons. A few firework stickers to celebrate the accomplishments, and the page was done!

Rainbow Shirts Revisited

Today, we are finishing our visit to Glen Echo Park for the 2021 NPTC convention picnic. Before the convention started, I posted a request that people wear their 2020 Virtual Convention shirt to the picnic. This isn't terribly unusual — we typically wear the prior year's shirts on Fridays. But my request included a participation request that everyone get in rainbow order, so I could get a group photo. I was thrilled at how many people came over for the photo. Just outside of our picnic area was a set of risers. I'm not sure why they were there, but they were the perfect way to bring everyone together for the photo. 

I created this layout based on this idea from the CM Blog. I wanted something a little fancier than a plain white background, so I decided to create one. The small squares are made with a CM Border Maker punch and then adhered diagonally across the page. It was a LOT of punching, but it was worth the effort. In addition to this are the diamond shapes created with the CM Custom Cutting System. Since that filled the space with so much color, I journaled on some of the plain white Write Strips. 

Lasting Memories Guest Designer Week 3 (Francis Scott Key Memorial Park)

Hello everyone! I'm guest designing for Lasting Memories throughout September! I'll be sharing an extra layout every Sunday at noon for the next 2 weeks (and I encourage you to go back to review the last 2 weeks). Each one follows the weekly challenge posted at Lasting Memories, and I encourage you to join the challenge! Post your version using the link at the bottom of their post.

For this post, we are jumping ahead in the NPTC convention again. On Monday, we had a 2nd bus tour, and one of the stops was the Old Stone House in Georgetown. Though managed by the Rock Creek Park unit, the land isn't technically part of that park. However, nearby is Francis Scott Key Memorial Park, which IS. It was located close by where our bus was parked, so when we were done at the house, one of the Rangers walked us back to the bus, stopping at the park long enough for a few photos. 

This week, the Lasting Moments challenge is to use floral paper. I turned to CM's Spring Medley pack. The background floral paper had been used previously, and all that remained was a 1" wide frame. I found a piece of blush cardstock that matched the tone of the stones in the photos and trimmed that to 11". I found a sketch that I had saved and used it to finish filling in the elements. The green leafy print is also from Spring Medley. It's 6" x 9". I trimmed the statue's close-up photo to 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" and then matted it on a piece of blue paper from the collection. A few stickers and a journal box finished the layout.

You're Never Too Old

This blog continues the coverage of the Glen Echo Park picnic for the NPTC 2021 convention. You saw the carousel in the last post; now you can see me and my friends enjoying our free ride. Truthfully, I could have taken a dozen turns; it's such a great carousel! I chose a rabbit for my ride. I'm amused that one of the members chose the sled instead of an animal.

I chose another of Noreen Smith's 1-2-3 layouts for this topic. You can see the original blog post from December 2016 here. The papers are from the CM Picture This pack. A few of the embellishments are from the coordinating Shutterbug pack. I liked the large block of photos on each page. The flash strips are part of the Shutterbug collection's page of printed borders. I needed to include them as the Shutterfly photos I use are JUST shy of 6" long. Since there was a small gap, I added the borders to fill in. Although not part of the original sketch, this is one way to differentiate your layouts if you use the sketch multiple times. I used two mats to finish the page — one as a title and one as a journal box. Because the photos do so much of the work, these layouts come together quickly.

A Roaring Good Time

Today, we continue our exploration of Glen Echo Park. Part of our Friday Night picnic included a ticket to ride the historic carousel. Some of the animals date to the early 1900s (and the horse pictured on the right page is not available for human riders due to its historic legacy). This carousel reminds me of Knoebels. I love it when they use ostriches, tigers, and large rabbits as animals to ride. There was also a Wurlitzer organ playing the music for the ride. Beautiful statues that you get to ride. How perfect was that for our club?!?

I based this layout on one of Noreen Smith's 1-2-3 sketches, which can be seen here. I chose some Ivory cardstock and a piece of paper from the new Creative Memories 1920-1930 collection. I was thrilled to discover that CM offered a series of decades-inspired papers and stickers. The animals are so lively that the Ivory cardstock is a good resting spot for the eye. The title cluster may be too small. However, the kit doesn't come with mats, and I couldn't find one that worked well as a title. The little girl embellishments are from a heritage pack I've had in my stash for years. They were the perfect decoration for this ride.

The Story is in the Trip Itself (Lasting Memories Guest Designer Week 2)

Hello everyone! I'm guest designing for Lasting Memories throughout September! I'll be sharing an extra layout every Sunday at noon for the next 3 weeks (and don't forget to go back to last Sunday to catch my first entry). Each one follows the weekly challenge posted at Lasting Memories, and I encourage you to join the challenge! Post your version using the link at the bottom of their post.

This week, we are sticking with the NPTC 2021 convention, but going a little out of order. I'll return to the Glen Echo Friday night picnic in the next post. On Saturday morning, before the main meeting, I made a trek to the LBJ Memorial Grove. Remember that I did not drive to DC, and this is one of those locations where a car would have been helpful. I had initially intended to rent a scooter (the kick-push kind), but I quickly realized I do not have the balance for that, or a bicycle. My next plan was to take the metro to the Pentagon station and pick up an Uber from there, as it would be cheaper than taking an Uber from the hotel. Navigating from the station platform to a spot where the Uber could pick me up was a challenge. Clearly, I could not go into the Pentagon. However, the parking lot was restricted too, so I had to find an alternative way to the road to get picked up. But I managed, and he was able to drop me off at the park near the entrance to the Grove. 

I enjoyed a short visit, as there really isn't much to see other than the monolith and an information sign. There's a small boardwalk to the river where I got to watch more birds. And then I had to get back for the meeting. I called another driver to take me to the Metro station. I watched on the app as they drove around, unable to find the parking lot where I was standing, and then drove away, canceling my ride! Luckily, someone else was able to take the request, and I did make it back in time for lunch and the meeting.

Welcome to challenge #767--striped paper! I created this layout using a VERY old CM sketch (this is actually from the OLD CM company). I chose the striped background in a red-white-and-blue pattern to maintain a patriotic tone, given my embellishments. To soften the bold stripe, I used a sheet of white vellum where the sketch called for a large rectangular block. To adhere vellum, you should try CM's vellum adhesive. It's a bit goopy when you apply it, but when you burnish the paper over the adhesive, it disappears! I chose the blue star paper for the large circle element and a fussy-cut embellishment for the smaller circle. All of the embellishments come from the Eastern National scrapbook kit. You can journal directly on vellum if you like, though you might want to give it an extra minute or two to dry before handling so that it doesn't smear.

The Gang's All Here

Welcome back to the 2021 NPTC convention and to our Friday Night Picnic! The bus tour ended with a stop at Glen Echo Park. It is one of the portions of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, and is a great destination. It was a leisure destination for Washington, DC, during the early 20th century, and it still has some ways to relax. The historic carousel is here, and you'll see that in a future post. We used the pavilion to host our Friday night picnic (a tradition for many years now). One of the rangers shared some information about the park, and we had plenty of time to catch up with our friends. I have photos with some of my favorites — many of whom I hadn't seen in years!

This layout is based on a Club Scrap free sketch. They post the sizes and cutting guides, making it easier to assemble. The papers came from an old CM patriotic pack. I liked the vibrancy of the designs. You can mix patterns by using a large, medium, and small one, so it doesn't feel too overwhelming. I started using dark blue gingham paper for mats, but that proved overwhelming, so I switched to navy cardstock, which helped create a clear distinction between the photos and the prints. A few stickers from the stash, and the page was done!

Down on the Farm

We are back to the bus tour at the 2021 NPTC convention. After leaving Fort Washington, we drove to the nearby Oxon Hill Farm. The parking lot is a bit of a distance from the farm, so they set up the stamping table at the end of the parking lot, in case anyone didn't feel like making the walk. But Mel and I did walk over to see the animals. Several cows were in the field, and again, there were a plethora of chickens roaming around. They don't seem to be afraid of people at all and think we are all going to feed them because they roam around our ankles the whole time. It was pretty hot that day, so mostly I sat at a table in the shade and talked to some of my park friends. It was a lovely, peaceful stop.

This layout is loosely based on this pin that I saved. I pulled my Farm stash from the shelves and found that I had a portion of the fence border with the chicken on it. Additionally, I had die cuts left from other kits and old CM that included the chicken on the title square. I strung all of that along the bottom of two papers that had red tones (one was supposed to be a barn wall — can you tell there's a window in the middle?). Layering the photos and Unigrid was pretty simple once the borders were done. There is journaling in a peekaboo pocket that sits on top of the chicken photo.